The Valean Grail War
by ShadowofAxios
Summary: A Lesser Grail is forming in Vale. The Masters have been chosen, and the overseers have arrived. The Servants remain a mystery to the overseers, leading to two questions: Why is there a Grail forming here of all places? And who are these Heroic Spirits?
1. A Bored Old Man

**So this is an idea I thought up and quickly started assembling. This will probably be unique amongst crossovers, and at the same time, lots of fun to write. Enjoy this first chapter!**

 **Chapter 1: A Bored Old Man**

* * *

In a room underneath the Clock Tower in London, England, an old man with a grey beard and red eyes dressed almost completely in black sat behind a desk. This old man was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. He idly read a book in the dimly lit room as he waited for his pupils to come back from a recent task he had given them.

He was bored. There was nothing else to it.

Sighing and closing the book, Zelretch stood up, no longer able to take the boredom of sitting around, and began activating his Second Magic, Kaleidoscope, to find a dimension that might interest him.

He smiled as he found a dimension that would interest him and slipped through the gap between dimensions, jumping from his own to another.

* * *

Taking in his surroundings, Zelretch found that he had arrived in the alleyway of a city. He quickly stepped out of the alley to explore his new surroundings.

He walked around the city, attracting a few strange looks from the locals at his appearance, but was otherwise ignored.

As he walked, he tried to learn what he could of this new world from the culture, shops, and people.

This world wasn't altogether different from his own, if a bit more technologically advanced, there were cars passing by on the streets, the traffic lights, while holographic, followed the same pattern as his own dimension, and, judging from the numerous weapon shops he passed, their weapons were far more advanced than anything in his own dimension.

The things he really took interest in, however, were the people, and the energy source that was used in almost everything.

As he walked, he noticed that some of the people he passed seemed to have extra, animal-like features. Some had ears or antlers resembling those of an animal, and others had tails from one animal or another. It was disconcerting at first, but being the seasoned dimensional traveler that he was, he took it in stride, and made a game of determining how many different kinds of animals he could determine based on the features.

The thing he found most interesting was the strange, apparently naturally occurring, crystals that could be seen in many of the shops he passed. From the signs on east shop, he guessed that these multi-colored, high-energy crystals were called "Dust". Based on what he saw, Dust came in either a solid crystal form, or a powdered form. He was interested in these crystals as, being a Jewel Magus, he wondered if they could be used in some form of magecraft.

As he neared one of the walls that surrounded the city, he detected a peculiar energy signature similar to the prana Magi gave off when they activated their circuits. Curious, Zelretch made his way towards the source of the energy, wondering if there were Magi in this world.

He soon came upon what seemed to be some kind of makeshift training ground near one of the walls of the city where he saw that the source of the energy came from two people who seemed to be sparring in the middle of a clearing.

One was a male dual-wielding two well-made swords, and the other was a female wielding a silver bow. Zelretch watched from a distance, interested to see what the two warriors were capable of.

The male rushed in, taking a slash at the female as she parried the swords with her metal bow before letting off three arrows at once at the slightly off-balance male. He was just able to regain his balance before using his swords to deflect the arrows. The female began sending arrow after arrow at the male, who was soon quickly and fluidly twirling his swords to halt the onslaught of arrows. When the female paused to grab more arrows from the quiver on her back, the male held his swords forward, blades pointed towards the sky, before his index fingers started moving, and gun shots could be heard as he started firing at the female.

Zelretch blinked in surprise. He certainly hadn't been expecting that, and he definitely wasn't expecting what the female archer did next.

As the bullets came towards her, she gripped the center of her bow tightly and twisted, causing the string to disappear as she separated the two ends of the bow, to created dual-short swords, which she quickly used to stop the bullets coming at her.

The fight went back and forth like this for a few minutes until the female reformed her bow and held out a hand towards the male as he charged forward.

Zelretch felt a spike of prana, as the male seemed to slow down considerably as the pressure of the prana built until he was on his knees with a look on his face saying that he was feeling considerable pressure. After a few seconds of straining against the force holding him down, he dropped his swords, ceding defeat.

The female then lowered her hand, the prana-like energy fading, and walked over to help the male up. He then sheathed his swords as they began conversing about something.

Having seen enough, Zelretch walked away with a smirk at his new discoveries to find a place to return to his original dimension.

He stopped cold, however, when a much more familiar prana signature came to him. It was something he hadn't felt since he helped oversee the formation of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. A Lesser Grail was forming.

Walking quickly, he made his way towards the assumed Lesser Grail. It took almost half an hour by his estimate to finally find the area of the source.

It appeared to be some sort of plaza, several benches and grassy areas surrounding a stage of some kind.

Walking towards the stage, Zelretch began appraising the progress of the Lesser Grail that had begun to form. While it had no physical form just yet, its presence was very much there.

As he examined the beginnings of what could only be a Grail War, he idly thought about what he should do about this. He could, of course, dismantle it, or he could let it play out and see what happens. Remembering the spar he had witnessed earlier, he smiled a bit and decided to let it play out.

Still, he couldn't just let it play out without supervision, not after what happened in Fuyuki after the Fourth War, and during the Fifth. And then there was the interesting prana-like energy many of the people of this dimension had, along with those fascinating crystals that they used, there had to be some study done into both of these.

He couldn't do it himself, of course. He had far too much to do, but there were two people that could do both of these things for him. Monitor the Grail War, and study the prana-like energy and the crystals of this world. All he had to do was convince them to do it.

That wouldn't be too hard he decided as he walked away to find a suitable place to return to his original dimension. He chuckled; it was actually going to be fun to do.

* * *

 **2 Hours Later**

Zelretch was once again sitting behind his desk in his dimly lit office as his two apprentices looked at him in shock. He could barely suppress a chuckle at the sight.

The first girl had long, wavy black hair and blue eyes, her hair coming down loosely over her shoulders. She wore a long red jacket, a white polo neck jumper, a black mini skirt, long black socks, and long leather boots. Her name was Rin Tohsaka. She specialized in Jewel Magecraft, and was a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War, making her particularly valuable in monitoring the newly discovered Lesser Grail.

The second girl was Luvia Edelfelt. She had long golden blond hair styled in entirely in large coils with blue ribbons and brownish-red eyes. In contrast to her counterpart's outfit, she wore a long blue dress and white boots. Like Rin, she also specializes in Jewel Magecraft.

"You want us to do what?" Rin asked, snapping out of her stupor.

Zelretch raised an eyebrow. "Was I not clear? There is a Lesser Grail forming in a newly discovered world, and I would like you two to oversee it."

"Couldn't you have just dismantled it and ended the problem?" Rin asked.

"I saw no point in doing that, seeing as I couldn't detect that it was tainted like the Grail you are familiar with. Besides, there's another job I'd like you to do while you're there as well," Zelretch replied, his smirk not leaving his face.

"And what exactly would that be?" Luvia asked, finally rejoining the conversation.

"While I was there, I detected a prana-like energy coming off of many of the people there. While it was similar to prana, it definitely wasn't, and one person I observed was definitely doing something that I could guess to be gravity manipulation, though I could possibly be wrong. I want you two to study this energy, and its capabilities, along with the fascinating crystals they have that power just about everything with."

At the mention of crystals, aka jewels, both girls perked up, interested in a possible expansion of their craft.

After a few moments of silence, Rin groaned and said, "Fine, I'll go, if only because of those jewels, and the potential of that Grail to be dangerous."

Luvia remained silent for a few more moments before giving a cheshire grin as she said, "I suppose I should go too. After all, Rin might screw it up somehow, so she could use the help of a much more talented individual such as me."

A dark look crossed Rin's face as a tic mark appeared on her forehead. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Goldilocks?"

Luvia's eyes shown with a look of annoyance as she replied, "You know exactly what it's supposed to mean, Rin Tohsaka! I'm obviously the superior Magus!"

"Oh, yeah?" Rin challenged.

Zelretch sighed and returned to his book as his two apprentices once again began their petty arguing and scuffling. They really were very much alike.

* * *

 **All right! That's the intro chapter! I'll be working on getting the War started, and the Servants introduced next chapter. So, I'll see you guys next time!**


	2. Masters and Servants

**This may be a longer chapter just because of the points I want to hit before the war fully starts. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter 2: Masters and Servants**

* * *

On the island of Patch, just off the coast of mainland Vale, two girls sat in the living room of a large house, working diligently on their respective assignments.

Once they arrived in Vale, Rin and Luvia immediately sold several non-prana charged jewels in order to acquire some money to set up a base and safe zone for the coming Grail war, leading to their decision that Patch was well enough out of the way to suit both purposes.

Luvia sat at a table, reading a book, with several Dust crystals in front of her, studying its properties, while Rin sat in a chair, writing several letters while constantly looking between them and a book she had informing her on Master locations.

On girl's left arm, a red tattoo was set, representing their Command Seals as overseers of this war.

"Rin," Luvia said, not looking up from her work, "Have you set up the bounded field yet?"

A tick mark appeared on Rin's forehead, but she continued working. "Yes, Luvia."

"Are you almost done with those letters to the Masters? We need to get this war over and done with as soon as possible."

Once again, Rin gained an irritated look. "Yes, Luvia."

"And the Masters have all been chosen, correct?"

Rin signed the last letter and summoned a couple owl familiars to deliver them. "Yes, Luvia. Now, could you please stop asking stupid questions? Your voice is irritating."

It was Luvia's turn to look irritated, a dark look appearing on her face as she picked up a red crystal to examine. "Only you would find a voice as angelic as mine to be irritating, Rin Tohsaka."

"If anything, your voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to my ears," Rin countered.

"So unsophisticated…" Luvia muttered as she tried to pour a bit of prana into the crystal, causing it to explode, covering her in soot and destroying part of her clothing.

There was silence in the room for a few moments before Rin broke down laughing. "If you had read the book properly, Goldilocks, then you would know that crystal is highly volatile, and should be used carefully!"

She continued to laugh as Luvia tackled her to the ground causing an all out brawl to start, with each girl flinging petty insults at the other.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

Sitting on her bed in her dorm room, Blake Belladonna idly examined the red tattoo that had appeared on the back of her hand. It had appeared a couple nights ago, a burning sensation coming with it. She and her team had only just back from helping in the Breach incident when it appeared. She had spent an hour in the bathroom of their dorm trying to scrub it off to no avail.

It appeared to be something like three, almost lightning bolt shaped lines, all centering toward the center of the back of her hand. She vaguely wondered what they were for when a tapping at the window disrupted her musings.

"I swear if that's Sun in the tree outside our dorm, I'm going to shoot the branch he's hanging from," she muttered, getting up and walking to the window.

To her surprise, instead of the smiling, upside down face of Sun, she found a grey owl. She opened the window and it hopped in, sticking out a leg for her to see what it was carrying. Tied to its leg, were three envelopes and a note that said, "Please take one. Details on the tattoo that is undoubtedly on the back of your hand are inside."

Blake's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly took an envelope, the owl hopping back out and flying off once she had done so.

Inside the envelope, she found out things she would rather not be a part of. Would she ever catch a break?

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

Weiss Schnee had decided to take a walk around the Beacon Academy grounds to vent her frustration. She had been trying for two days to remove the stupid red tattoo from the back of her hand, and it simply wasn't budging.

The thing wasn't even in a design she liked, either! It almost looked like a set of gears or the like. That wasn't something she was interested in having on the back of her hand.

She was just contemplating using some sort of Dust mixture to try to remove it when a flurry of feathers passed right in front of her face. Looking around for the source, she found an owl sitting in front of her holding out a single letter on its leg. Taking it, she opened the envelope to find details on a coming "Holy Grail War", and her participation in it.

And she had thought she'd seen enough for one lifetime.

* * *

 **Aboard the Atlesian Airship**

General James Ironwood sat behind the desk in his quarters with a window overlooking the city below him. His attention, however, was not on the astounding view, nor was it on his work. His attention was reserved solely for the markings on the back of his left hand, and the letter he had received via owl. A strange way to receive a message to be sure, but the information in the letter explained everything from the markings on his hand, which he learned to be called "Command Seals", to the coming of something known as the "Holy Grail War", some sort of large ritual as the sender described it.

Normally, if he received something this farfetched, he would disregard it and arrest the person who had wasted his time. Now, however, he could not only see the truth in the words of the letter, the Command Seals refusing to remove themselves from his hand, but he didn't know where to find the person, other than their given safe zone on Patch.

He once again examined the markings on his hand. The red tattoo looked disturbingly like the top view of a Beowolf head.

He would go and try to stop this "ritual" from happening, but something told him that no matter what he did, it would begin with or without him. So, he decided to the next best thing. He would participate in the War, and he would protect civilians from being hurt by the collateral as he did so. Nothing was more important than the people, and if he had to kill another Master to protect them, so be it.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

In his cell on the Atlesian airship, Roman Torchwick was excited. Somehow, someone had managed to get some sort of message to him.

At first, when it wasn't from Cinder, Neo, or the White Fang, confirming an escape plan to get him out, he was a bit disappointed, but as he continued reading, he had to stop himself from laughing. This was going to be his chance to get out of this dump. He could summon this so-called "Servant" to assist him to escape and get what he most desired when he won this "Holy Grail War"!

He chuckled again as he looked at his left hand once more, his glove removed so that he could see his way out of this cell. The red tattoo on his hand vaguely reminded him of a spearhead with two barbs at the base.

The next time the guards let him out, he would need to swipe a knife, and something to draw with, one of their Dust containers would work well enough.

Soon, he would be free to accomplish his goals and wishes.

* * *

 **In the Guest Dorms of Beacon Academy**

Cinder Fall sat in the guest dorm room, idly reading a letter containing information that she was very much interested in as Emerald and Mercury continued their playful banter nearby.

The seals on the back of her hand were a deep crimson color and looked like two crossed blades over a jewel-like pattern.

"Interesting," she whispered to herself before speaking for the other two to hear, "It seems we have gained something to help us further our goals."

"I thought we were lying low for a while to avoid those stupid girls who messed everything up?" Emerald said.

"Indeed we are," Cinder replied, "But there is something we can use to eliminate them quickly and efficiently, while striking fear in those who see it."

"What is it?" Mercury asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something called a Servant…"

"What do we need to do to find one?" Emerald asked.

"You don't 'find' them. You summon them. Get me some chalk and a knife. I will summon one tonight."

Upon hearing the order, Emerald and Mercury moved to get the required items.

The war would be starting soon.

* * *

 **Later That Night**

Blake stepped back from the circle she had drawn with the chalk she had found. She was just inside the Emerald Forest, deep enough inside that no one would find her, but close enough to the school to have some measure of safety from the Grimm.

Drawing Gambol Shroud from her back, she made a small cut on her right hand, allowing it to drop and hit the chalk, causing it to begin to glow.

Holding up a paper that had been included in the envelope, she began the summoning.

"Heed my words," she chanted, " My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning!"

* * *

On the Atlesian airship above Vale, two others were also in the midst of summoning their Servants.

"I hereby swear," Ironwood stated, "That I shall be all the good in the world, and I shall defeat all evil in the world."

* * *

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended by three great words of power," Torchwick continued, the circle he had drawn getting brighter and brighter.

* * *

Cinder finished the chant, as the circle grew brighter, blinding Mercury and Emerald.

"Come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!"

A bright light blinded the five Masters as they each finished summoning a Servant. Each one peered through the generated smoke to see what their Servant looked like.

* * *

On the roof of her dormitory, Weiss peered through the smoke to see a figure in brown armor with a blue and white coat, black pants, and brown boots with a belt around his waist holding various objects and ammunition.

He gave her a confident grin as he turned towards her. "I am Servant Rider, at your service."

The smoke cleared more and she was able to get a good look at his face. Blond hair was parted neatly on his head, and his ocean blue eyes showed experience in battle.

* * *

Roman sat in his cell, blinking as the light faded, only to hear two thumps as the guards outside were knocked out. He then heard the sound of metal meeting metal and the door of his cell was torn off to reveal a teenaged girl of average height with long orange hair similar to his wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, blue skinny jeans, and red one-inch heels holding a red spear in her hand.

"I am the Servant Lancer," she said, "I assume you are my Master?"

Roman stared at her for a moment before saying, "Well, that wasn't what I expected, but if you could get us out of here, that would be great."

Lancer nodded before helping him out and they both began running down the hall.

* * *

When the light faded, Emerald and Mercury stared in awe at the raw power coming from the Servant Cinder had summoned, while Cinder herself looked on in fascination.

"If I am correct, then this Servant would be Berserker," she said, gesturing to the Servant surrounded in dark mist, "Our enemies no longer stand a chance." Cinder smiled at her luck.

Berserker looked forward from his crouched position on the ground, his golden eyes surveying the room, searching for threats. His short black hair seemed close to Cinder's own hair color, and she thought she might have seen a flicker of recognition go through his eyes just before Mad Enhancement set in.

Her victory was assured.

* * *

General Ironwood looked in wonder at the Servant he had summoned, his teenaged appearance throwing off slightly. He had a pale complexion and black hair, and his emerald green eyes seemed to read pierce and read him without any trouble. His long black coat held several silver containers on the front, and he had dark grey pants tucked into tall black boots, and he had a slightly torn green scarf around his neck.

"I am Servant Assassin," he said, "You are my Master, correct?"

Ironwood cleared his throat. "Indeed, I am General James Ironwood. Now, I have been told that you can sense how many Servants remain active or have been summoned, can you please tell me how many Servants have been summoned so far?"

"Of course, Master, or do you prefer General?"

"General is fine," Ironwood replied.

"It seems that six- oh, all seven Servants have now been summoned. The Grail War has begun."

* * *

Blake looked through the smoke surrounding her, using her enhanced vision to try to find the Servant she had summoned. She idly wondered if she had somehow failed. Maybe she should have used some sort of catalyst after all.

Then she heard it, the familiar sound of a cloak billowing in the light breeze. She turned to see a teenager who couldn't have been much older than her with a fair complexion, black hair with a silver streak running through it, and dazzlingly bright golden eyes.

His black cloak billowed in the breeze, revealing his black jacket, white shirt, black pants and boots, and the revolvers holstered on his thighs with swords sheathed on his back.

She couldn't help but stare in awe at the Servant, because, while his appearance seemed standard, she could somehow tell there was more to him than met the eye.

He looked around a bit before spotting her, a small smirk coming to his mouth.

"I am Servant Saber, and I would assume you are my Master?" the Servant asked.

"I am," she said, trying to remain calm, "My name is Blake Belladonna. Please call me Blake. 'Master' is a bit awkward."

"Well then, Blake," Saber said, "What do you say we get started?"

* * *

 **And that's the chapter! Sorry if it jumped around a bit too much, but I wanted to set up these particular Masters and Servants for the next chapter. No, I did not forget about the other two, I just left them out for the moment, but don't worry, they will be making an appearance soon. I wonder if anyone, outside the people I've already talked to about this, can figure out what the deal is with these Servants. I'll see you guys next time!**


	3. Lightning and Shadow

**The action's going to start to pick up soon, and I'm thinking towards the end of the chapter things will finally kick off, so, without further ado, here's the chapter!**

 **Chapter 3: Lightning and Shadow**

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

Blake Belladonna was sitting in Grimm Studies with the rest of her team, taking notes whenever a particularly useful fact came up, but otherwise ignoring Professor Port's bombastic story.

She examined the Command Seals on her hand, studying the three bolts of lightning converging on the center of her hand, idly wondering what she had gotten herself into.

" _Master, is something wrong?"_

Blake jumped in her seat as Saber's voice entered her mind. She hadn't quite gotten used to the link between herself and her Servant yet.

She thought back, _"No, everything's fine. And what did I tell you about calling me Master?"_

" _Right. Sorry, Blake. My status as a Servant, and my contract with you, makes you recognized as my Master, so I forgot about your request."_

Blake frowned. There was no way Saber had simply forgotten her request. He was probably messing with her a bit. She wouldn't let him get to her though.

" _Was there any particular reason that you decided to contact me in the middle of class, Saber?"_ she asked.

" _You didn't seem to be doing anything, so I thought we could enjoy a conversation as you waited out the professor's story."_

" _Wait, how do you know he's telling a story?"_

" _I popped in for a minute or two to check up on you before leaving. He reminded me a lot of when I first started out."_

Blake raised an eyebrow. She had noticed a couple things about Saber since he had been summoned last night. He always seemed to know more than he let on about Servants knowing, and he seemed to gain a wistful look around the halls of Beacon.

" _What do you mean?"_

Blake felt Saber's demeanor change slightly, as if he had let a piece of information slip that he shouldn't have. _"It's nothing. You have good taste in books by the way."_

Her eyes widened in shock. _"You're going through my bookshelf?"_

" _Relax. I haven't touched THAT one. Besides, I don't plan on revealing myself to your friends or teammates unless you want me to."_

Blake breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried about someone finding out about her rather… private book, _Ninjas of Love_.

" _Thanks, Saber."_

" _You're welcome."_

" _Have you sensed any other Servants around campus? I'd like to know how safe Beacon is."_

Blake heard Saber sigh in her mind. _"I was hoping to tell you this in person, but since you asked, when we first made the campus, I had sensed three other Servants scattered around the different buildings."_

Blake could barely contain her surprise. _"You're sure?"_

" _Positive. It's highly likely that they know I'm here as well. The only thing is, shortly after arrival, one of the Servants left the school."_

" _Do you know where?"_ Blake asked.

" _No. However, there is another piece of news you need to know about the other two."_

" _What is it?"_

" _One of them was in a different dorm building. The other, however, I last sensed at the same dorm building as you. Whether or not they're in the same building was hard to guess at first, until I looked around this morning."_

" _What did you find?"_

Saber paused for a few moments before replying, _"Are you sure you want to know?"_

" _Yes, Saber. Tell me. I can handle it."_

Another pause. _"Your teammate. Weiss. She has Command Seals. If her Servant is as perceptive as I am, which they more than likely are, they probably already know about yours as well."_

Blake shot a glance over at Weiss, who was listening intently to Professor Port's story, diligently taking notes.

She sighed. _"Thanks for the information, Saber. I'll ask her later."_

" _Be careful. We don't know what her Servant's reaction will be."_

" _Okay, I'll wait until you're in a position to help then."_

" _I'll be with you once your class is over. You have combat training next, right?"_

" _Yes. See you then."_

" _I'll be there."_

* * *

 **That Evening**

"Hey, Weiss?" Blake asked from across the dorm room.

"Hm? What do you need?" The heiress responded, not looking up from her textbook.

"Could we… talk for a moment?"

Weiss looked up from her desk and book. "What's wrong?"

Blake glanced at Yang and Ruby, who had picked up on the worry in Blake's voice, looking at her with concern.

"Let's… go for a walk," Blake suggested, "I have something I need to ask you. Privately."

Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance as Weiss followed Blake out of the room, a confused expression on her face.

Blake remained silent as she continued walking down the hall, down to the first floor, and out of the building, Saber's presence next to her in his spiritual form.

Blake led Weiss to a secluded corner of the school so that they could have complete privacy.

Stopping next to a bench, Blake turned back to Weiss.

The two teammates stood in silence for a few moments, looking at each other.

"Well? You wanted to talk to me, and I'm listening," Weiss said impatiently.

Blake sighed. "I'm sorry. I was just wondering how I should ask my question."

"Just spit it out already!" Weiss said.

"… Do you have Command Seals?" Blake whispered, just loud enough for Weiss to hear.

The look on Weiss's face was nothing short of pure shock. "How… How do you…?"

Blake held up her left hand for Weiss to see, the red lightning bolt prongs contrasting greatly with her skin.

"You're a Master?" Weiss asked, whispering in shock.

Blake nodded. "I am. I received the seals a couple days after the Breach."

"No," Weiss said, "No, no, no, no, no, no. Why do you have to have them too? I don't want to fight against my own teammate!"

Blake's eyes widened. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction from Weiss. She took a step forward to comfort the heiress. "Weiss. We don't have to fight. We can team up to defeat the other Masters, then figure out what to do later."

"She is correct, Weiss," a male voice said from the side, a man in a blue and white coat materializing, two rapiers with gear-like guards sheathed at his sides.

"Rider…" Weiss murmured.

"He's your Servant?" Blake asked, getting a nod in response.

Rider gave Blake a slight bow. "My apologies. We had simply hoped that one of her teammates or friends was not another Master in this War. Apparently that wasn't to be."

Blake waved him off. "We'll be fine as long as we work together. And we will be working together, right?"

"Of course we are!" Weiss said, her proud demeanor coming back to her, "I told Ruby I'd be the best teammate ever! That includes you!"

Blake smirked. "Good to know you can still have that Ice Queen attitude right now, Weiss."

"Shut up!" Weiss said before looking around. "Wait a minute. Where's your Servant?"

Blake looked around. "He's here. Come out Saber, we're allied now, you don't need to hide anymore."

Saber materialized next to her, his black cloak flapping the breeze. "Sorry. I was a bit taken aback by Ry- Excuse me, Rider's appearance."

Blake raised an eyebrow at Saber's pause, but let it go. "So, what do we know about this War, and the other Masters and Servants so far?"

"Well, we know that if we were to lose our Servants, we could take shelter at the neutral zone the 'overseers' set up on Patch," Weiss replied.

"And due to our mutual connection to the Grail," Rider said, "I can sense that all Servants have been summoned."

"I've sensed the same thing," Saber agreed.

"Have either of you two been able to find any other Servants or Masters?" Weiss asked the two Servants.

"I sensed four on the Beacon campus when I arrived, including myself, but that dropped to three not long afterward," Saber said.

"Same," Rider agreed.

"And the Masters?" Blake asked.

Rider shook his head. "Nothing. We'd have to search the entire school several times over if we hoped to find the remaining Master here."

"Perfect," Weiss said, "That means we'll need to search the entire city to find other Masters and-"

Weiss was cut off as Saber stepped in front of Blake, blocking a bullet from hitting her. He drew a sword and deflected the bullet. However, the bullet carried an amount of lightning Dust on it, probably enough to paralyze a normal person for several days. Unfortunately for the user, Saber was not normal in several ways, his status as a Heroic Spirit among them.

The lightning generated by the Dust traveled down his sword toward his hand, but he simply took a deep breath through his mouth and absorbed the energy, boosting his power slightly.

"Whoa. What was that?" Weiss asked.

"That," Saber said, a speechless Blake behind him, "was another Servant trying to incapacitate Blake."

Rider blinked. "I don't sense any Servants nearby."

"And you won't," Saber replied, "Because that was probably either Assassin or Archer. We won't be able to sense Assassin coming, and Archer can probably be outside our range and take us out if he wanted, assuming he has the right skill set and weapon."

"You're very clever, Saber," a voice said from the shadows of the trees, "I'm actually surprised you were able to block my shot in time, but that little trick you pulled with the lightning was interesting."

"Thank you," Saber said, eyes moving over the tree line, "Would you mind revealing yourself so I can thank you face to face? Preferably with a name to identify you by?"

After a few moments, a figure in a red shirt, jeans, red combat boots, and a red cloak, a white stripe going down the middle, stepped into view, his hood pulled up, and a sniper rifle in his hands.

"You may call me Archer," he said.

Saber and Rider tensed, narrowing their eyes at the newcomer. His hood obscured most of his face in shadows, making it hard to see any discernable features.

"Why did you fire that stun shot at Blake, Archer?" Saber asked, a look of anger evident on his face.

Archer shrugged. "My Master requested that I bring her to him unharmed. I admit I had a few qualms about it, but if my Master and I are to win this war, him using a Command Seal is not something we need."

"And if I were to say you couldn't take her?" Saber inquired.

A smirk became visible on the lower part of Archer's face, showing confidence in his abilities. "Then I'll have to take you out of the picture. Sorry."

The two Servants stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move while Rider stood off to the side, protecting Weiss and Blake from harm.

A gust of wind blew past them, both of their cloaks flowing in the wind. The removal of the cloak's full coverage of his arms revealed something shocking about Archer to Saber.

"You're missing your left arm," he said.

"And you have a silver streak running through your hair. Your point?" Archer retorted, annoyance in his voice.

"Just stating an observation," Saber said, his swords now drawn.

The two continued to stare each other down, each one waiting for the other to make a move.

The first move occurred with Archer bringing his rifle to bear, firing several shots off at Saber, who deflected all of the shots, and charging forward, drawing a sword as he went.

Saber narrowed his eyes at the place where his left arm would have been, some sort of shadowy construct holding his rifle in place.

Archer swung down at Saber with his sword in his right hand, Saber blocking by crossing his swords and pushing Archer back and off balance.

Archer directed his sword to block Saber's swords just in time to defend from being hit in the side of the chest. In retaliation he brought up his rifle as he pushed Saber back and shot several rounds at point blank range at Saber.

They never made contact as in a flash of lightning Saber was no longer standing in his original position, but several yards behind Archer, one of his swords sheathed, and a revolver in one hand.

"Feeling lucky punk?" Saber asked before firing several rounds at Archer, who was just able to block the shots.

Archer seemed to size up Saber after the recent showing of his abilities. "You're certainly more than meets the eye, Saber."

Rider snorted in amusement. "He doesn't know the half of it."

Weiss and Blake looked at Rider.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked curiously.

Rider continued smirking and waved them off. "We'll tell you later."

"That's if Saber survives…" Weiss muttered.

"He will. I know he will," Blake said.

"There's certainly something you're using to compensate for that lost arm of yours, Archer," Saber replied, "But you know, usually when I fight someone they show their face to me. So, what's it going to be, are you going to lower the hood? Or am I going to have to do it for you?"

Archer growled. "I don't need the likes of you, and especially Her, seeing my face, not now, not like this."

"Why should Blake not see your face?" Saber asked, prepared to dash forward in an instant.

"I wasn't talking about your Master," Archer replied.

All eyes immediately went to Weiss, who was just as confused as everyone else was.

Rider stepped forward, no longer content to sit on the sidelines. "What does Weiss have to do with you?"

"That's none of your business, now step back so I can finish off Saber," Archer said, growing impatient.

"Blake," Saber said slowly, "Permission to use my primary Noble Phantasm?"

Blake ran the idea through her head. Saber had told her about his Noble Phantasms, one being something he often used, the other he hoped he didn't need to use, being more of a last resort than anything else.

Blake contemplated the request for a few moments before nodding. "Go ahead. I know you can do it."

Saber smirked. "You're about to see some major power here. Not my fault if you pee yourselves."

Archer scowled. "Don't you dare underestimate me."

Saber sheathed his remaining sword and holstered his revolver, his eyes closed in concentration.

Archer uttered one word as Saber seemed to be off guard. "Unleashed…"

Immediately, the shadows around Archer molded themselves to become a kind of armor, his cloak flapping in the twisting shadows.

Archer charged forward, his sword at his side. "I will win this, Saber!"

"Dragon Force…" Saber said, opening his eyes, their normally bright golden color replaced by an electric blue color, a scaly complexion appearing around his eyes as his cloak dematerialized.

Archer was right on top of him, his sword coming down, when Saber disappeared in a flash of lightning, appearing just behind Archer and punching him with a lightning covered fist, sending Archer crashing through the tree line.

Archer appeared from the trees, running at a speed faster than Ruby, at Saber, quickly slashing at Saber's gut while starting a roundhouse kick.

Saber dodged the sword, but was knocked back by the shadow-wreathed kick.

Both Servants stood facing each other, Archer wreathed in shadows, Saber flickering with lightning, when suddenly a young male voice called out.

"That. Was. Awesome!"

All eyes turned to see what appeared to be a teenager with messy brown hair and green eyes wearing glasses, metal-plated boots with baggy pants tucked into them, a green long-sleeved shirt, a brown vest, and metal gauntlets, with brown suspenders hanging at his sides, walking towards them with a grin on his face.

Saber, Rider, and Archer were on guard with this new arrival, the aura he was putting out practically screaming that he was a Servant.

"Who are you?" Rider asked cautiously.

"You can call me Caster," the Servant replied as he got into a combat stance, his gauntlets and boots seeming to whir, "Mind if I get in on the action?"

* * *

 **Above Vale**

General Ironwood sat in his office aboard his Atlesian Airship, idly going through paperwork, when his Servant, Assassin, suddenly contacted him.

" _General, a battle has started at Beacon Academy,"_ Assassin reported.

" _How many are there currently?"_ he inquired, his mind beginning to think tactically.

" _Four, Saber, Archer, Rider, and Caster. Saber and Rider's Masters seem to have formed an alliance, Caster has only just arrived, and both of the Masters of Archer and Caster remain a mystery."_

General Ironwood contemplated the circumstances for a few moments.

" _What is the status of the two known Masters?"_

" _They are both students at Beacon. Rider is protecting the two of them."_

" _All right then. Wait for another Servant to appear before showing yourself, and then see if you can take one of them down. Do not touch those students unless absolutely necessary."_

" _As you wish, General," Assassin replied._

* * *

 **That's the end of Chapter 3! The action has picked up, and that is just a taste of what I have planned for this War. See you guys next time!**


	4. Battles and Identities

**Here is yet another chapter of VGW! It's been fun doing this, maybe I'll do stuff like this a bit more often. Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

 **Chapter 4: Battles and Identities**

* * *

The four Servants stood opposite each other, Saber and Archer deactivating their Noble Phantasms to conserve power. Each Servant watched the others, waiting for one to make a move, each ready to retaliate in under a second.

"Weiss, Blake," Rider whispered to the girls behind him, "Get back to your dorm. You'll be generally safe there as the general rules frown upon outsiders seeing us fight."

The girls nodded reluctantly and left their Servants to fight while they got to safety.

Several more seconds passed before the silence was finally broken.

"So," Archer started, "Were we going to start, or were we-"

He didn't get to finish the thought as Saber drew his swords and was in front of him in a flash of lightning, slashing towards his head and chest. Archer was just able to block the sudden attack and repel him before he could pull another trick of swordsmanship.

Archer grinned. "Not bad, Saber. If I hadn't fought someone with a similar fighting style before, I'd be a goner."

Saber raised an eyebrow. "Mind if I ask who that might have been?"

"Sorry, Saber, but that's a little close to home, and my legend for that matter," Archer replied, "I can't have you figuring out my identity on the first night, can I?"

Saber smiled back. "No, but that won't stop me from trying. That hood you're wearing is really making me curious."

"I'd love to show my face, especially if my suspicions are correct about YOUR identity," Archer said, a small smile on his face.

Saber chuckled. "Was it that obvious?"

"There aren't many heroes that use lightning, much less in that manner."

"True, true," Saber replied.

"Shall we continue? Or should we stand here all night talking?" Archer asked.

"As good as that sounds, I still have to keep you away from Blake," Saber replied.

"Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not all for it either," Archer said, his hand tightening on his sword, "but I need to win this, so I'll do what my Master asks me to."

Saber gripped his swords, ready to recommence the battle, a small smirk coming to his face. "You know, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping you'd say that."

The pair smiled at each other before disappearing in a burst of speed, sparks of lightning and solidified shadows being the only things marking their high-speed battle.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rider and Caster were circling each other, sizing each other up, Rider with his dual pistol-rapiers, and Caster with his mechanized gauntlets and boots.

"Why would a Caster have a use for metal gauntlets?" Rider asked.

"If only you knew, Rider," Caster replied, smirking.

Without warning, Caster activated the mechanics of his gauntlets and boots, blasting forward with a surge of white energy from both of them. Rider deflected the first volley of punches with some quick defensive slashes from his rapiers before going on the offensive and slashing, stabbing, and shooting in between blocking Caster's strikes.

Caster then used the white glow at his palms and feet to hover in air above Rider.

"You're good," Caster complimented.

"You're not too bad yourself," Rider replied.

Rider then unexpectedly pointed a hand at the ground, a blue and white hover board appearing at his feet, and stepped onto it, hitting a switch and making it begin to hover above the ground.

"Let's kick this fight into another gear," he said.

Caster landed, settling back into a combat stance. "Let's go then."

Rider smirked as he took off at an incredible speed. He circled Caster, looking for an opening, before zooming in and slashing at him with his swords, repeating several times over at a speed that was hard to follow, steadily wearing Caster down.

That was, however, until Caster was somehow able to move fast enough to knock Rider off his board and off balance, a light grey glow at his feet, and proceeding to come at him with some very impressive boxing and kick boxing skills, knocking Rider back further.

"Rider! Down and switch!" Saber's voice came from behind Rider.

Without hesitation, Rider bent at the waist, allowing Saber to vault over his back to deliver a kick to Caster while Rider drew his rapiers to deal with Archer.

Rider slashed and stabbed at Archer, who dodged and parried each strike before returning his own, Rider parrying those. They went back and forth, Rider's unorthodox fencing style throwing Archer slightly off, and Archer's shadow construct distracting Rider.

"I have to say, Rider," Archer said, parrying another stab from Rider, "I haven't heard of this style of fencing before. Is it of your own design?"

Rider smirked. "I wish I could say it was, but it's more of a style I adapted into my own than anything else. Your swordplay is impressive as well for an Archer, although parts of it seem like it were designed for another weapon."

Archer raised an eyebrow under his hood. "You picked up on that in only a couple minutes of fighting?"

"I had to be perceptive in life," Rider said, "Things tended to sneak up on myself and my friends when we weren't looking."

"Huh," Archer responded before dashing forward, firing a trio of shots from his rifle and slashing upwards with his sword, knocking Rider off balance and removing a rapier from one of his hands, which a shadowy figure, emerging from Archer's shadow, caught.

Archer sheathed his sword and temporarily dematerialized his rifle as he took the rapier from the shadowy figure, taking a somewhat familiar fencing stance.

An irritated look crossed Rider's face, and he said in a slightly accented voice, "En garde."

Archer grinned and dashed forward, Rider parrying his strike with perfect form. As they exchanged strikes with the rapiers, Rider began to notice Archer using the shadow figure to boost himself into the air, provide a platform, and even serve as a makeshift left arm.

"So that's how you're making up for your missing arm," Rider said, jumping back, "You're using that shadow figure to replace your left arm and provide platforms, and backup, in combat."

"That's correct, but I doubt you stopped this fight just for that," Archer replied.

"No, I didn't," Rider said, shaking his head and reaching to the back of his belt, "I stopped because your fencing technique, while quite obviously a bit rusty, is one that I've only seen, and faced, from one other person."

Archer's smirk from before disappeared. "Oh, yeah?"

In under a second, Rider had drawn a pistol from the back of his belt and taken the shot at Archer, who was unable to deflect it in time, blowing his hood off of his head, and causing Saber and Caster to stop their small battle nearby to watch this new development.

Archer's eyes widened, exposing his right silver eye and left blue eye further. His pale complexion got a bit paler, if that was possible, but the main thing the other three Servants looked at however, was his alternating white and brown hair with red tips.

Rider himself hadn't expected this kind of development. "What the heck?"

Caster stared wide-eyed at Archer's appearance. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Saber took in Archer's appearance before finally grinning. "Looks like genetics truly is an impressive thing, am I right, Max Rose?"

Archer looked at Saber with a look that was partially amused and partially annoyed. "I should say the same to you, Silver Aurelius."

"Well, now that we know each other's names this is about to get interesting, isn't it?" Saber replied, his own identity now revealed.

"That it will, Saber," Archer said before turning to Rider and tossing the stolen rapier back to him. "It seems my fight is spoken for."

Archer got into a combat stance, facing Saber before tensing as he listened to something and sighed. "My Master has ordered me to retreat for now. We'll have to finish this later, Saber. Be warned though, your fight isn't over for the night."

And with those last words, he dematerialized in a small swirl of shadows.

Once Archer left, both Saber and Rider turned their attention to Caster who quickly gained a nervous look. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

Rider simply smirked in response.

"You know, I almost feel bad about having to take you out, Caster," Saber said, twirling his swords, "You seemed like a really good guy and all."

Caster laughed nervously. "Yeah… uh, right," he stuttered before his eyes widened, "Look out!"

Saber just barely had enough time to jump out of the way as a figure shrouded in a black mist impacted with the ground he had just been standing on.

"Oh, come on!" Saber said, "Just once can I take a breather when the fighting stops for a bit?"

Rider scanned the newly arrived Servant, his eyes glowing dully. "That has to be Berserker. There isn't any other Servant that would put out an aura like that."

Berserker hadn't moved from his kneeling position inside the crater he had formed, but he seemed to be watching the three Servants, his eyes glowing a dull red.

Saber, Rider, and Caster all faced this new opponent, the tension rising as Berserker continued to sit still in a kneeling position, watching them. That changed when a woman's voice echoed from the shadows.

"Kill them, Berserker."

With an inhuman growl, Berserker launched forward, blades appearing on his arms, which he used with deadly efficiency for being under the influence of Mad Enhancement. He attacked each Servant randomly and effectively, keeping them on their toes as they dodged and deflected his blades. Even Saber couldn't get much of a hit in on the maddened Servant.

* * *

Assassin stayed hidden in the trees, watching as Saber, Rider, and Caster battled Berserker, a silent agreement between the three Servants to take care of him before anything else.

" _General, I have some more news,"_ he said, contacting Ironwood.

" _What is it, Assassin?"_ Ironwood replied.

" _I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?"_

Ironwood stayed silent for a few moments, debating the question. _"Give me the bad news first."_

" _The Masters of Saber and Rider fled the scene upon Caster's arrival, Archer has departed, and Berserker has arrived."_

Assassin felt Ironwood sigh. _"And the good news?"_

" _Berserker's Master is here, hiding, and Saber and Archer's identities have been revealed."_

Ironwood once again went silent as he formulated a strategy for his Servant to follow, taking the information he had received into account.

" _All right, change of plan. Try to find Berserker's Master's identity and then report back. We'll come up with a plan to deal with the other known Masters and Servants based on the information you've gathered. We're not engaging any Servants, not tonight. I can't risk a chance of your identity being revealed. Clear?"_

" _Understood,"_ Assassin responded before taking off through the treetops to try to locate Berserker's Master.

* * *

Back at the battle, Saber and Rider were starting to get tired, while Caster was running low on stamina, having taken a few hits and expended quite a bit of energy.

"We need to at least injure him enough to get him to pull out," Rider commented, "Then we can retreat safely ourselves."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Caster asked.

Saber sighed. "Why do I always do the crazy shit?"

"What do you mean?" Caster asked, curious.

"I mean I'm probably about to paint a gigantic freaking target on my back for doing what I'm about to do," he replied, holding his hand up as if he were going to throw a spear, and getting into a wide stance.

"We may want to stand back," Rider said, picking up on what Saber was doing.

Berserker's Master seemed to see that Saber was about to pull something as well as she shouted, "Get him now, Berserker!"

Berserker charged forward, blades out and ready to impale Saber, with a roar, while Saber charged up an attack, his eyes beginning to glow a dull electric blue.

"Lightning Dragon's… Heavenward Halberd!" Saber shouted.

A lance of lightning formed in Saber's outstretched hand, taking the form of a halberd, which he through forward with speed matching the element.

The attack travelled so fast, Berserker didn't have time to dodge it, and was blown back by the ferocity of the attack, plowing through the tree line and stopping about fifty yards in.

"Whoa…" Caster commented in awe.

"Indeed," Rider replied.

Berserker staggered back to his feet with a groan, and was about to charge again before his Master cut him off.

"Stop, Berserker, we're done for the night," she said, "You interest me Saber, I'd love to meet your Master sometime."

The way she said it filled Saber with a sense of dread, which he quickly shook off as he watched Berserker dematerialize and listened as his Master also retreated.

"Now what?" Rider asked.

"We're done for the night," Saber replied, "Caster, get lost, Rider, let's go check on Weiss and Blake."

Not needing to be told twice after that display of power, Caster dematerialized, returning to his Master.

"You're not in a very good mood, are you?" Rider asked as he walked with Saber.

"I didn't really want to put a target on my back, and thus Blake's, this early in the war, Rider," Saber replied, "So, no, I'm not in the greatest of moods at the moment."

With those words, he disappeared in a flash of lightning, leaving Rider to shake his head in amusement as he dematerialized to follow.

* * *

 **Patch**

Rin and Luvia looked between each other and the crystal they had been watching the battle through for a few moments as Saber and Rider left the scene.

"What. The hell. Was that," Rin asked in shock.

"How do you not know? YOU were the one who participated in this stupid ritual!" Luvia argued.

"That doesn't mean I know who all those Servants are!" Rin yelled, "I've never even heard of Max Rose or Silver Aurelius! Besides, you can't talk because you've never heard of them either!"

Luvia went slightly red in embarrassment and anger. "How have we never heard of them though? That was the craziest thing I've ever seen, especially what Saber did at the very end."

Rin sat back. "I don't know, Luvia. Short of asking him, I don't know if we'll get that answer."

"Perfect. Just perfect," Luvia muttered.

They both sat rather quietly, thinking about the events of the night and wondering where they could get answers.

* * *

 **That's the end of Chapter 4! I don't know whether to call it good or bad in my own opinion, so I'll leave it to you readers. I've also decided to start leaving Servant stats at the end of certain chapters, so up first, because he was revealed first, is Archer! Keep in mind I might leave some parts out to prevent spoilers.**

* * *

 **Servant Class: Archer**

 **True Name: Max M. Rose**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Good**

 **Master: N/A**

 **Stats-**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: A**

 **Agility: B+**

 **Mana: D**

 **Luck: A**

 **Noble Phantasms: A-**

 **Skills-**

 **Class Skills-**

 **Magic Resistance: B**

 **Independent Action: B**

 **Personal Skills-**

 **Clairvoyance: B+ (future sight is possible on occasion)**

 **Eye of the Mind (True): B**

 **Subversive Activities: C (able to set traps)**

 **Guardian Knight: B**

 **Noble Phantasms:**

 **Unleashed: Full information unavailable.**

 **Shadow Puppet: A figure created from his shadow used to assist him in battle either independently, or to replace his left arm. Rank: C (Anti-Unit)**

* * *

 **That's a wrap! See you next chapter!**


	5. Causatum

**The War has started to pick up, so here I am with a bit more of a quieted down chapter, maybe. Probably won't last too long. I did forget to mention when I did Archer's stats last chapter to include the author who created him. Assassinwriter, I apologize for that. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter 5: Causatum**

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

Blake and Weiss sat on their respective beds, gaping at their respective Servants at their reports on the events of the previous night. It was mid-afternoon, and Yang and Ruby were out at the library, studying, giving them a chance to talk with their Servants outside of their mental links.

Saber was reclined in a chair, his feet up on a desk, as he observed his Master's body language and facial expression, hiding a smile as he did so, while Rider leaned against a wall, watching his own Master's reaction.

"Let me get this straight," Weiss started, " Saber and Archer's identities were discovered by each other last night, even though one of the biggest ideas of this war is for that not to happen, but to top it all off, you both knew each other on sight? That shouldn't be possible if the overseer's letter was anything to go by!"

Saber and Rider exchanged a glance, and Saber seemed to give Rider a pointed glare, causing the blond to sigh in defeat.

"Err… Pretty much, "Rider responded, "But could you please calm down a bit?"

Weiss huffed. "That depends, am I going to get some answers?"

Rider glanced at Saber. "Yes…"

Saber shrugged from his position. "She's your Master. You start."

"Well… You could say that we've met each other before," Rider started, glancing at Saber again, "The first time being on not so good terms."

Saber chuckled, Blake and Weiss shooting glances at him.

"So we were surprised by each other's appearance here," Rider continued, "We won't be fighting each other any time soon without direct commands since we're… friends, for lack of a better term."

Saber rolled his eyes, but otherwise had no comment.

"What are the chances of this happening?" Weiss asked.

"Not very high," Blake commented, eyeing her Servant carefully.

"Especially since we couldn't easily get to each other either," Rider said, raking a hand through his hair.

Blake raised an eyebrow, while Weiss placed a hand on her hip.

"And why is that?" she asked.

"We're… not exactly of this world," Rider said.

"I thought you two were Heroic Spirits of legend," Blake said, a look of slight confusion on her face.

Saber chose this point to fully join the conversation as he placed his feet solidly on the ground and leaned forward in his chair, a small smirk on his face.

"Heroic Spirits? Yes. Legend? Not exactly," he said.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"We're not legends, for lack of a better word, of this world. Not really, "Rider said, "We are of other versions of this world, as the Throne of Heroes, from which we are summoned, resides in a place outside of time and space, allowing 'legends' from across all dimensions and time eras to enter."

"So what you're saying is that I won't be able to find any information on either of you or your origins?" Weiss asked, frustrated.

Saber was quiet for a moment before he replied, "You definitely wouldn't be able to find anything on Rider, but I can think of one person you know who would give you some insight on my origins, even if it's partial."

"Who?" Blake asked, curious to find out more about her Servant.

Saber shook his head. "I'd rather you didn't bother her. It's a touchy subject for her and her relatives."

Blake narrowed her eyes at her one or two possible clues, but decided to look into it later.

"What did you find out about Archer?" she asked.

"We managed to find out why he was so… aggravated, no, uneasy around Weiss," Rider replied.

"And?" Weiss asked, waving her hand for him to continue.

Saber and Rider exchanged a nervous glance.

"Are you positive that you want to know?" Rider asked.

"Of course I am," Weiss replied.

Rider sighed, shooting a glare at Saber. "Archer's true name is Max Rose…"

Silence reigned over the room for a few moments as the Servants let that information sink in.

"So, he's an ancestor of Ruby?" Blake asked half-heartedly, already guessing at the true answer.

"No. He's actually a son, although his full origins are… complicated," Saber said.

"How complicated?" Weiss asked.

Saber and Rider glanced uncomfortably at each other.

"I really don't want to get into it. Ask him next time we see him, because we will be seeing him again," Saber finally replied.

Weiss sighed. "Fine."

The four sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while after that, occasionally glancing at one another, but saying nothing.

Saber perked up after a few minutes, looking at the door. "Someone's coming. You know how to reach me if you need me, Blake." And with those words, he dematerialized.

Rider nodded and followed Saber's example.

Sensing that the Servants had also left the room to leave her and Weiss to their team, Blake looked at the heiress.

"They're hiding something," Weiss said, "I don't know what it is, but there's definitely a few things about themselves and their discoveries that they're not telling us."

"I'm sure they have a good reason for it," Blake said, defending the Servants, before the door opened, Ruby and Yang entering.

"Hey guys, did we miss anything?" Yang asked.

"Not really," Weiss replied.

"What'd you guys do while we were gone?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Nothing," the two Masters replied simultaneously.

The two sisters shared a look, but made no comment. The Faunus and heiress' changes in attitude had not escaped them.

* * *

 **Vale**

Having nowhere else to go, Saber and Rider had decided to head into the city to try and find other Masters or Servants. Usually only Assassin would do this, but since it was still a long ways off from nighttime, and there were civilian witnesses everywhere, they had decided it would be safe to roam around, as an unspoken rule of the War was for it to remain secret from the public.

Saber had dematerialized his cloak temporarily, to avoid more scrutiny from passerby, as most who wore them tended to be Huntsmen, while Rider had gone as he was. They did, however, keep their weapons dematerialized as well.

"How long do you think we have until we spill the beans on everything?" Rider asked as he walked with Saber.

Saber was quiet for a moment as he thought it over. "It's hard to say, but I'm going to guess two more days at the rate this is going. Faster if any other Servants recognize us and call us out in front of them."

"And Ruby and Yang?" Rider asked, watching Saber's facial expression.

Saber sighed. "Tomorrow at the latest. I had hoped my Luck Rank would help with that."

Rider nodded in understanding before a flare of prana caught his attention. "Did you sense that?"

Saber nodded. "Let's go."

The two ran off in the direction of the docks, and the source of the prana signature marking another Servant.

* * *

 **Atlesian Airship**

Ironwood sat behind his desk as his Servant, Assassin leaned against the opposite wall, both of them engaged in an unspoken staring contest.

"You want me to what?" Assassin asked in a flat tone.

Ironwood sighed. "I would like you to track down all of the other Masters and bring them to the ship so that we can end this war as soon as possible to avoid any chance of civilian casualties."

Assassin remained quiet, his expression unreadable.

"Assassin?" the general asked.

"What makes you so sure that this will end it so quickly, even if I manage to get all of the other Masters?" Assassin finally asked.

"If I have the Masters, the Servants can't and won't touch me, giving us the chance to quickly and efficiently end this war."

Assassin was quiet again. When he finally spoke, he turned his back to his Master, saying, "I may not like it, but it's still early in the war, and those Seals are precious. I will go through with your plan, but do you plan on killing the Masters if the Servants do attack, or they don't cooperate?"

General Ironwood was silent for a few moments before he replied, "Only if absolutely necessary, Assassin."

Assassin gave a small nod at the answer, dematerializing to go and start his task.

* * *

 **Abandoned Warehouse**

Roman Torchwick was in a fairly good mood. He was out of prison, he had gotten paid again, and to top it all off, Cinder and her lackeys were still playing 'student' at Beacon Academy, meaning he wouldn't have to deal with them for a while.

He did, however, have to deal with the White Fang, and a notorious member of them as well. At least that was made up for by the presence of Neo and the oh-so-interesting Archer, as he had sent Lancer to distract the two Servants she had sensed in the city.

He sat on a crate, smoking a cigar with his cane at his side, when Archer walked over to him.

"Where's Lancer?" Archer asked.

Roman took another breath before puling the cigar from his lips. "What's it to you? I thought you were supposed to be doing another job anyways."

Archer waited for an answer.

"You really are annoying, kid," Roman muttered. Switching to a more clear tone, he said, "I sent her to the docks. She sensed two Servants in the city, so she asked to distract them, and I told her to go there so that they don't find this place."

Archer looked a little miffed at this statement. "And you sent her without asking my Master to send me as backup?"

Roman raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face. "Don't tell me you actually care for her? That is one interesting love story, kid."

Archer glared at the orange-haired man. "That's not what I mean, Torchwick! She would only be able to win against a possible alliance of two Servants if it was Assassin and Caster, but we're not that lucky, or have you forgotten what Cinder said about you and your Servant when you first got back?"

Roman looked away. "Damn it. Go help her, I'll cover for you, just this once, and only because I don't need 'Her Highness' on my ass."

Archer smirked as he left to go to the docks. "Thanks, Candlestick."

Roman withdrew another cigar and pulled out his lighter. Lighting it, he said, "It's Torchwick, you asshole."

* * *

 **Vale Docks**

Saber and Rider arrived at the docks fairly late, as they did not want to scare the Servant off, hoping to make contact with them. The sun had just set when they arrived, but instead of needing to search for them, they found the Servant to be standing in the middle of an open area of the docks, much to their confusion, as she had long orange hair, amber eyes, a long-sleeved red shirt, skinny jeans, and short red heels.

"I believe you were the one who sent out that burst of power?" Rider asked, revealing himself to her.

She smiled, causing Saber, who was still hidden in the shadows, to narrow his eyes at the strange familiarity. _"Why does she look so familiar?"_ he thought.

"I would consider it to be more of an invitation, or maybe a challenge if you prefer," she replied.

"I would have hoped that we could talk," Rider said.

"We could do that," she said, "But I'm beginning to think that Saber might get restless from what I heard about last night."

Saber stepped out from behind Rider. "I'm not all swords and punches, you know."

She smirked. "Oh? That's not what Archer said."

Saber remained un-phased by that revelation. "He obviously didn't tell you everything then."

"Oh, I definitely did," a voice said, "She just likes to mess with people."

Archer materialized next to the mystery Servant.

"And seeing as we know your identity, Saber," he continued, "It's much easier to get to you."

Saber sighed. "You really want me to fight, don't you?"

"That was the idea, yes," Archer replied.

"Could we at least get your class name first?" Rider asked the mystery Servant.

"Call me Lancer," she said, a red spear materializing in her hands, and a grin appearing on her face.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Rider muttered.

All three of the so-called Knight Classes had arrived to the same place, and he had managed to join in on the coming fight.

Just as it had happened the previous night, the four stood off from each other, waiting for the other side to make the first move.

This time, however, Archer made the first move by firing several shots in Saber's direction before charging forward, a shadowy arm appearing where his left should be before turning into a sort of blade where the hand should be.

Saber deflected the bullets, and parried the solidified shadow away as Archer made to slash at him. The two then went into a high-speed duel with Saber slashing and stabbing, while parrying Archer's sword and deflecting his close-range shots. Archer, unfortunately, couldn't quite stand against Saber's swordsmanship. He wasn't the Servant of the Sword for nothing.

For that reason, Archer jumped backwards and began firing a barrage of varying types of rounds ranging from Burn Dust to Ice Dust to Armor Piercing, and everything in between.

Saber was hard-pressed to dodge the shots, but he didn't come out unscathed. His cloak was now looking a bit tattered at the bottom, and his clothes were a bit charred with a few small holes.

Archer didn't look much better as some of his clothing had some holes from Saber's earlier attacks. His cloak had also received some damage.

Noticing his cloak had taken an amount of damage, Archer gritted his teeth. "You just ruined my cloak! That had sentimental value you would never know!"

Saber raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

With those two words, their fight broke out into escalated ferocity, both sides trying, and failing, to take the other out for good.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rider and Lancer's battle was going slower compared to Saber and Archer's. Or at least Lancer was. Rider had summoned his hover board and was staying just outside the range of her spear, firing his pistols as he maneuvered the board quickly around her.

Rider then changed his pistols back to their rapier form and charged straight for Lancer, who leveled her spear to skewer him as soon as he got close.

Rider had been expecting that, and instead jumped off the board, flipping through the air as he struck her several times with his swords, and landed back on the still-moving board, slowing to a stop a few yards away.

"You're very interesting, Rider," Lancer commented, "I don't think I know many people who are as creative as that in combat."

Rider smirked. "I do my best, love," he said, an accentuated voice escaping him.

Lancer raised an eyebrow. "An accent as well? You really are more interesting than I thought."

They then began going back and forth, trying to outsmart the other in combat strategies, Rider using his rapier-pistols and hover board, while Lancer used her spear-rifle.

Not one of them was aware of what was happening at Beacon as they fought.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

The premier academy for Hunters and Huntresses-in-training was dark. All of the students had retired to their dorms for bed, and the teachers had all finished their paperwork to do the same. Nothing moved on the campus except for the nocturnal animals from the Emerald Forest, and a shadowy blur that was making its way quickly through the campus.

Arriving at one of the dorm buildings, it quickly scaled the wall and made its way over to a specific window. Carefully climbing up onto the sill, Assassin revealed himself momentarily before stepping into the shadows and reappearing within the room. Gazing quickly around, he spotted four bunks, with a girl in three out of the four of them. He soon found that a light was on inside what he assumed to be the bathroom.

Holding out his hand, he summoned a long black blowgun, along with a bunch of darts with plumes of blue feathers. He carefully loaded one into the tube and stepped back to wait for the person to step out of the bathroom.

Assassin didn't have to wait long as a drowsy-looking girl with white hair stepped out of the door after a couple minutes of waiting. Before she could see him, much less respond to his presence, he had shot a dart at her neck, causing her to fall asleep quickly and fall.

He caught her before she could hit the ground, so as not to wake the other occupants of the room. Laying her down softly for the moment, he shot another dart at the girl with black hair, ensuring that she would stay asleep for a few hours before picking both her and the first girl up, stepping into the shadows, only to reappear outside, and disappear into the night to continue his mission.

* * *

 **That's the end of the chapter! Things are really starting to pick up, with Assassin more or less coming out into the open to some extent. I wonder if you guys can figure out Archer's Master. Be sure to leave reviews on your thoughts! Now, on to Saber's stat page!**

* * *

 **Author: ShadowofAxios**

 **Servant Class: Saber**

 **True Name: Silver Aurelius**

 **Alignment: Neutral Good**

 **Master: Blake Belladonna**

 **Stats-**

 **Strength: A**

 **Endurance: A**

 **Agility: A+**

 **Mana: B**

 **Luck: C**

 **Noble Phantasms: A+**

 **Skills-**

 **Class Skills-**

 **Magic Resistance: B+**

 **Riding: B**

 **Personal Skills-**

 **Instinct: A**

 **Clairvoyance: B+**

 **Eye of the Mind (True): B**

 **Guardian Knight: B**

 **Noble Phantasms-**

 **?: N/A Rank: A+**

 **Dragon Force: By unlocking the power of a Dragon, all stats go up by one rank (not including Noble Phantasms) and he gains a scale-like complexion around his eyes and arms.**


	6. Assassin

**I'm back with a new chapter of VGW! I'm going to be updating whenever I can at this point since school starts back up in a week and it gets BUSY. So, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Assassin**

 **Atlesian Airship**

Blake groaned as she sat up from her position on the floor. Looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings, her expression changed to one of fearful anxiety.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud, standing up to approach the door of what she assumed was a cell of some sort.

"Ah, good. You're awake," a voice outside the cell said, making her jump, "I was hoping to ask you some questions."

The door slid open to reveal General Ironwood, two soldiers on either side of the door along with a man in a black jacket with a torn green scarf behind the General.

"Why am I here?" Blake asked, defiance in her voice.

"Don't worry," Ironwood said, "I'm not going to hurt you. It's like I said, I just want to ask you a few questions, and then ask you a favor."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "What kind of favor?"

"Nothing too hard, considering the safety of the people is at stake. I want you to either give me your Command Seals, or order your Servant, Saber I believe it was, to kill himself."

Blake stepped back from the General in shock. "I- No. I won't do that to Saber. He trusts me, and I trust him. I won't betray him."

"Servants are already dead," Ironwood stated, "What difference does it really make?"

"The fact that they have feelings of their own and feel pain just like us," Blake replied.

"Please see reason, Miss Belladonna. If you allow me to win, the Grimm will never be a problem ever again, and I will work my hardest to secure the equality your people have wanted for decades."

Blake considered this for a moment, before looking the General straight in the eye and saying, "I don't care what your wish is. There are Hunters and Huntresses for a reason. If I have to sell out Saber to possibly gain equality, then I won't do it, because Faunus equality should be something that Humans willingly give, rather than being forced into, like the White Fang want."

General Ironwood sighed. "I had hoped that we could come to an understanding. I suppose I'll have to come back to you once I've spoken to the other two Masters from Beacon."

With a curt nod to her, he spun on his heel and walked out of the cell, the door sliding shut behind him, and leaving her to think of a way out.

* * *

 **Vale Docks**

Rider stepped to the side and deflected Lancer's spear before it could pierce his stomach. He was just holding his own with his unorthodox fencing style against the Servant of the Spear. Her stats were obviously above his, being faster and stronger than him, without either of them using a Noble Phantasm.

It didn't help that she kept on creating solid glass walls to block his strikes and catching him off guard when he tried to dodge or block her thrusts and swipes with the same constructs.

"This is getting kind of old, you know that?" Rider asked as he hit another glass construct.

"If it isn't broken, don't fix it," Lancer replied, taking another thrust at Rider.

Rider quickly parried the thrust and jumped back, sheathing his swords mid-air.

"Sheathing your swords in the middle of a fight?" Lancer asked, "What are you up to?"

"Weiss is going to kill me for this…" Rider muttered.

Lancer narrowed her eyes as Rider held up his arm and pressed a button on the watch he had on, power building steadily around him as he prepared to use a Noble Phantasm.

"Beware the Blizzard…" Rider whispered.

At the call of its name, a large, highly customized Atlesian Paladin appeared from the sky, Rider climbing in to the cockpit.

"You've got some nice toys, Rider," Lancer commented.

"Thank you. I customized it myself," Rider replied.

Lancer smirked as she shot forward, firing her rifle as she ran before switching back to her spear form and stabbing any piece on the mecha that looked important, mainly the cameras and sensors.

Rider responded by batting her away with the Paladin's strength, sending her flying backwards. He followed up by launching a volley of missiles at her, and causing her to throw up several of her glass constructs around her.

The constructs were too thin by nature to do much in protection, and Lancer was once again sent flying backwards.

Lancer slowly got up off the ground, a smirk growing on her face. "Now we're talking. Let's go."

Lancer then disappeared in a burst of speed, trying to out-maneuver Rider to beat him, and thoroughly enjoying the fight as she did so.

* * *

Saber and Archer had meanwhile decimated a fair portion of the docks in their fight, dented cargo crates, craters, and scorch marks littering the area.

Archer was mainly going on a small rampage against Saber for the damage done to his cloak, as it had sentimental value to him. He would shoot and slash and stab at the Servant of the Sword, but Saber would always either teleport out of the way, dodge, or parry the attacks.

Archer paused as he rested from his storm of attacks, inspecting Saber for any sign of injury. Finding none, he looked at him incredulously.

"How did I not land a single hit on you?" Archer asked, annoyed.

Saber considered his question for a moment before replying, "It might be because I have better senses than you do, even for a Servant, mine are high, but it could also be another thing."

"And that would be?" Archer asked.

Saber smirked as his cloak and jacket disappeared for a moment, only to be replaced by a new set, the jacket being black with white accents, and the cloak being white with a red inner lining.

Archer's eyes widened. "Oh… Right."

"I suppose you could call me Uncle Saber," the swordsman said with a grin.

"I am not calling you that," Archer deadpanned.

Saber shrugged. "Ah, well, it was worth a shot."

Saber then drew two identical swords, each one having a straight silver blade with a black hilt, and a red rose symbol on the hand guards.

Archer quickly got into a stance to be able to shoot or slash on a second's notice, wary of Saber's new swords, but before either could make a move, several red beams of energy impacted the ground between them, causing both Servants to look up to see Caster floating above them.

"Are you done?" Caster asked, "Or am I going to have to fight you to get some help?"

"What kind of help could you possibly need, Caster?" Saber asked.

"Well, I was away from my Master for a couple hours, and when I came back, they weren't there. My first thought was you and Rider, but then I remembered your identity, so now I believe it to be Assassin."

"It's good to know that Assassin has come out into the open, but how does it affect Saber?" Archer asked, annoyed that their fight was interrupted.

"I checked to see if their Masters were in their dorm, and they weren't, and I couldn't find any trace of them nearby," Caster replied.

Saber reverted back to his original weapons and clothes at this statement, sparks of electricity arching across his body. "So what you're saying is that both Rider's Master, and mine, are gone, without a trace."

"Yep," Caster confirmed.

Without another word, Saber interrupted Rider and Lancer's battle and knocked Lancer back as he gave Rider the rundown of the situation.

After a couple moments, Rider's mecha disappeared, and both Saber and Rider soon entered their ethereal forms to search for their likely endangered Masters.

Lancer and Archer turned to Caster with looks of annoyance on their faces.

Caster smiled sheepishly at them. "Sorry, gotta go help them. See you!"

With those departing words, Caster dematerialized.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

Saber and Rider rematerialized in the dorm belonging to Team RWBY, Caster following close behind. It was a little after midnight, and the other two occupants of the room were fast asleep, causing the three Servants to speak in hushed tones.

Saber turned to Caster with a glare. "What do you know?"

Caster resisted the urge to flinch at the gaze and replied, "I know that all three of our Masters are still alive, and I'm sure you would know if they got hurt."

"That's it?" Saber asked.

"Hey, what do you want from me? My Master was taken too, you know!" Caster said, annoyed.

"Do we have any clues?" Rider asked.

"All I know is that Assassin is dressed in black, but I can't say much more than that," Caster replied.

"Yeah, because that's real specific when you're talking about Assassin," Saber commented dryly.

"They aren't close by, since I can't quite get a grasp on my mental link with Weiss," Rider stated, shooting a glance at Saber.

"That's what I thought as well when I first started looking," Caster agreed.

"I can still sense certain emotions from Blake, so they have to be in the city," Saber said.

"Wouldn't we have sensed them on our way back if they were in the city?" Rider asked.

"If they aren't there, then where are they?" Caster asked loudly.

All three Servants fell silent, completely forgetting about the airship flying above the city at that very moment, and unaware that they had caught the attention of the two girls who were supposed to be sleeping in that same room.

* * *

 **Atlesian Airship**

Weiss Schnee was not happy as she sat in her cell aboard what she assumed was the Atlas Military's airship flying above Vale. She couldn't believe that Ironwood would stoop so low as to kidnap her, and presumably Blake, from her dorm room through his Servant, while theirs were out.

Just like her teammate a few cells over, she was quickly trying to think of a plan. She idly examined her Command Seals again when she remembered something about them she had read a few days before.

" _The Command Seals are three claims of absolute obedience of a Servant to a Master. They are used to control the Servant by either strengthening or restraining them. If the order is strong enough, the Seal can also break the laws of physics by allowing a Servant to teleport a great distance at their Master's command."_

Weiss gazed intently at the three interlocking gears on the back of her left hand for a few moments.

" _It can't be that easy, can it?"_ she thought.

She was snapped out of her musings by the door to her cell sliding open again, Ironwood stepping in with that black clothed figure flanking him again.

"Have you considered the offer I gave you, Miss Schnee?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

Weiss kept her expression blank and unreadable as she responded, "I have."

"And?" the General inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Weiss simply held up her left hand for the General to see, causing him to smirk.

"By my Command Seal, I, Weiss Schnee, order you, Servant Rider…"

The General's smirk grew as the Seals began to glow a bright red.

"… To come to my side at once!"

In a flash of light, Rider appeared in front of the heiress, his swords drawn, and a look of anger on his face as he looked at Ironwood.

"So it was you…" he muttered. Turning to Weiss, he said, "Go find the other two Masters that are being held here and tell them to get their Servants up here." Rider twirled his rapiers. "I'll take care of this corrupt General and his Assassin."

Ironwood's eyes widened as he quickly backed up and ran off, shouting at Assassin, "I give you full authority to use all of your Noble Phantasms. Just make sure that he doesn't leave!"

Weiss quickly ran by and down the hall with Rider covering her escape as Assassin made to stop her.

"Why are you doing this, Assassin?" Rider asked, recognizing the Servant of Assassination's face. "This isn't you!"

"In order to ensure that my wish is granted, and the people of Vale remain safe from harm, I will do whatever the General asks me to," Assassin replied, a cold look in his eyes.

Seeing that Assassin wasn't going to back down, Rider sighed, gripping his swords tightly. "If you won't see the error yourself," he started before dashing forward and swiping at Assassin, giving him small cuts on his coat, "Then I'll just have to show you."

Assassin quickly drew his twin curved-daggers and began his counter attack, holding them in a reverse grip as he slashed at Rider. Rider, however, had the advantage of range with his longer blades, causing Assassin to jump back to avoid further damage.

"Have you not grown out of the tendencies we had before coming to Beacon and forming our team, Assassin-no, Yaron?" Rider asked in anger. "We were friends, and I would never have thought that you would kill those that couldn't defend themselves against your strength. You're a Heroic Spirit for crying out loud!"

"If collateral damage will be avoided, I'll do it. Besides, if my wish is granted, it will all be worth it," Assassin said.

"That's way too cynical of a way to live, Yaron," Rider stated.

"Didn't we all have that mentality at one point or another, Ryan?" Assassin retorted.

Rider shifted his rapiers to pistol form, aiming both at Assassin. "I've moved on."

Assassin smirked as he held up his left hand and took off the glove covering it, revealing a mark similar to a Command Seal. "Bend time!"

The mark glowed white as time slowed down around the Servant of Assassination. Assassin quickly ran forward and slashed Rider with his daggers several times before deactivating the ability, causing Rider to bend over in pain from the wounds left behind.

Rider went back to his rapiers and leveled them at Assassin. "Yaron…"

A look of cold determination came over Assassin's face as the two Servants stared each other down.

After a few moments, Assassin flipped both daggers to a forward grip, his gaze never leaving Rider as he whispered the name of his weapons. "Nightfall…"

As soon as the word left his mouth, the daggers extended into swords, a dark energy pulsing through the blades.

Rider narrowed his eyes at the familiar swords as he got into a more defensive stance.

They continued to stare at each other, waiting for a move to be made. Rider summoned his hover board and hopped on, charging directly at Assassin at full speed. As soon as Rider was within striking distance, Assassin directed a cross-slash at him, which the Servant of the Mount avoided by jumping backwards off the board and using it to make Assassin lose balance as it slammed into his shins.

Rider then held up his left arm to reveal a metal gauntlet that extended toward the palm of his hand. A circle at the palm glowed as several small turrets appeared and scattered around the two Servants, beginning to rain fire down on Assassin.

Assassin retaliated by charging toward Rider and attacking him while simultaneously avoiding the turret-fire. Rider was just able to deflect the dark swords before once again using his hover board to send Assassin off balance and leave him open to the turrets.

Assassin took several rounds before Rider stopped the turrets, allowing Assassin to fall flat on his back from the damage and use of energy. Rider walked up to his side, swords in hand, and looked him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," Rider said to the defeated Servant.

"No," Assassin replied, his expression going from stone cold to a softer expression. "No, I'm sorry for my stupidity. What would Aria say if she saw me like this?"

"She wouldn't approve at all," Rider replied, hiding the tears coming to his eyes.

"Do me a favor, will you, Ryan?" Assassin asked.

"What is it?"

"Kill me and win," Assassin commanded. "That way the fool of a General won't be able to claim the Grail. We're just Heroic Spirits anyways. I can handle dying one more time."

Rider stood there, unsure what to do, as he met his friend's eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Rider spun his rapiers through the air and brought both down into Assassin's chest.

"I promise, Yaron," Rider said, barely able to keep his tears back.

"See you on the other side," Assassin replied as he dissolved into blue particles, his essence returning to the Grail.

Rider stood up, sheathing his swords, and began to walk away, hands in his pockets, and a blank expression on his face. Before he could go any farther, Saber and Caster appeared in front of him, Weiss, Blake, and Velvet Scarlatina at their heels.

"Is he gone?" Caster asked.

Rider simply nodded, causing Weiss to gain a curious, and worried, expression.

"Did you get a name?" Saber asked cautiously.

Rider nodded once again, whispering a single name. "Yaron."

Saber's eyes widened before he nodded in understanding, the others just looking confused at Rider's attitude.

Saber decided to cover for him, however. "Rider, you've used a lot of energy tonight, especially with that Paladin and your fights with two other Servants. Why don't you go into your ethereal state and rest? I'll get Weiss and Blake back to Beacon."

Rider nodded in acknowledgement as he dematerialized.

"What was that?" Blake asked Saber.

Saber sighed. "I'll tell you later. For now, we need to get you three back to Beacon."

Caster nodded as he offered Velvet his hand, the rabbit Faunus taking it with minimal hesitation.

"Velvet," Blake called, getting the older girl's attention, "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

Velvet nodded with a small smile. "Of course."

Caster then activated his gauntlets and boots and took off down the hall.

Weiss and Blake looked at Saber expectantly, both having raised eyebrows.

"Well?" Weiss asked impatiently, "Were we going? I'd like to go back to bed."

Saber suppressed a laugh as he held out his hands for the two to take, both taking a hand rather quickly, and disappearing in a flash of lightning.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

The two Masters and the Servant of the Sword reappeared in the dorm room to find that they weren't the only ones up at three in the morning. On either side of the room, on the upper bunks, were Ruby and Yang, small smirks on their faces as they looked at the new arrivals.

"You guys are so busted," Yang said, her smirk growing wider as she saw her two teammates holding hands with the unknown male.

"My Luck is ranked C, and yet it sometimes feels like E…" Saber muttered.

* * *

 **That's a wrap on this chapter. It was very sad, but unfortunately inevitable that Assassin would die first in this war, the way things were going. I'll be leaving his stat page here, with Rider's being displayed next chapter.**

 **See you next time!**

* * *

 **Author: Oathkeeper0317**

 **Servant Class: Assassin**

 **True Name: Yaron Schatten**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Neutral**

 **Master: General James Ironwood**

 **Stats-**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: C**

 **Agility: A+**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **Noble Phantasms: B+**

 **Skills-**

 **Class Skills-**

 **Presence Concealment: C**

 **Personal Skills-**

 **Transformation: EX**

 **Eye of the Mind (True): B-**

 **Noble Phantasms-**

 **Awakened Swords: His daggers (Nightfall) extend into short swords with dark energy pulsing through them. Rank: B (Anti-Unit)**

 **Grimm Hunter: Allows him to take on the attributes of what he hunts. Rank: A (No Classification)**

 **Outsider's Mark: Mark on his left hand giving him immense power. (Severely limited due to the Assassin classification) Rank: A (normally EX)**


	7. Life

**School has started back up and I'm already starting to get swamped, but I'll make the effort to keep updating. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 7: Life**

* * *

The two Masters and the Servant of the Sword stared in shock as Yang and Ruby grinned mischievously at them.

"So," Yang said, her eyes filled with mirth as she eyed Saber, "Who's your boyfriend?"

Saber raised an eyebrow at the blonde beauty as Weiss and Blake realized they were still each holding one of his hands and quickly let go, both of them turning red at Yang's implication.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Weiss stated, looking away from Saber and Yang.

Blake couldn't form words for embarrassment, deciding to stay silent as she glared at Yang, a slight blush on her cheeks.

Saber eyed Yang and Ruby before grinning back at them. "As much as I would love to lay claim to these two, I can't. Ice Queen over there has someone else to protect her, while I'm solely sworn to Blake."

If it was possible, Yang's grin grew larger at the open-ended statement, while Ruby looked at him with interest.

"Are you some kind of knight?" the black and red headed girl asked, "Because knights are so cool! They do all the super heroic things in the stories and-"

"Ruby," Weiss said, cutting the younger girl off.

"Yes, Weiss?"

"Please don't go rambling like that. It's way too early."

Ruby sighed in disappointment. "Okay."

Saber, however, looked thoughtful. "You could say I am a knight, but at the same time, I'm not. Not really." Realizing he had forgotten to introduce himself, he quickly said, "Where are my semi-existent manners? I'm Saber. You two must be my Master's teammates."

"Nice to meet you," Ruby said.

Yang popped an eyebrow. "'Master'?" She shot looks at Weiss and Blake.

Blake glared at Saber. "What did I tell you about calling me that?"

Saber grinned as he took a seat at one of the desks, facing the room. "Would you believe me if I told you that I forgot again?" Blake continued to glare at her Servant. "No? Oh well."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing in exasperation. "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

 **Three Hours Later…**

Ruby and Yang were now staring blankly at the exhausted forms of Weiss and Blake in a mixture of awe and shock, while Saber had propped his feet up on the nearby desk and fallen asleep, deciding they didn't particularly need him at the moment.

Yang was the first to come out of her shock, saying, "So you two were pulled into a huge battle-royale with five other people, each person having someone similar to Saber over there?"

"Yes, Yang, we've been over this," Blake replied, looking exhausted from the long night as she watched the sun rise through the window.

Yang shrugged. "Just checking."

Ruby opened her mouth to say something when another voice came from the doorway.

"If I may be so bold, I think it would be best if Weiss and Blake went to bed and slept the night off before answering any more questions you may have."

The four girls, and the recently awoken Saber, turned to the door to see Rider leaning against the closed door.

"How did you get in here?" Ruby asked.

"I just came out of my ethereal form," Rider replied. "I've been here the whole time."

Weiss nodded, having apparently gained some knowledge from her Servant telepathically, and cut off her teammates from asking any more questions.

"This is Rider, my Servant," she explained before yawning behind her hand, "And I agree with him. Blake and I really need to get some sleep, the sun's already coming up for Dust's sake!"

The two sisters looked behind them out the window to see that the sun was already above the horizon and looked back at the SDC heiress smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby apologized, "Yang and I will leave you two to sleep."

Yang looked like she might object, but looks from both the two Servants and their respective Masters made her think twice.

"Fine, let's go get breakfast Rubes," she finally conceded.

And with that, the two sisters left the room, allowing their teammates to sleep under the protection of their respective Servants.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy Rooftops**

As Weiss and Blake slept the night off in their dorm, Rider sat on the roof of their dorm building, watching as the sun steadily climbed higher into the sky, a look of depression on his face.

"You doing alright?" a voice asked from behind him.

Turning around, he watched as Saber finished rematerializing behind him, a slight look of concern on his face. Turning back to his original position, Rider replied, "I'm fine."

"Whatever you say," Saber said, taking a seat at the edge of the roof next to him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, continuing to watch as the sun continued up into the sky, and watching as the school woke up below them, students enjoying their weekend around the grounds.

"I finally tracked down Caster's workshop, by the way," Saber said nonchalantly, getting a look from Rider.

"Where?" Rider asked.

Saber tilted his head toward the tallest tower of Beacon, containing its symbolic Beacon, and Headmaster Ozpin's office.

"All the way up there?" Rider asked incredulously. "Why there of all places? I would have set up in the middle of the Emerald Forest if I were him!"

Saber shrugged. "I have no idea why he'd set up there, but if I found it, I'm willing to bet others did as well."

"You're expecting an attack tonight?" Rider clarified.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't likely," Saber admitted.

Rider considered the information for a few moments. "What are we going to do about it?"

Saber grinned. "We're going to use him as bait, and let the other Servants come to us."

"Does Caster know?"

"Nope," Saber replied cheekily.

Rider sighed before grinning. "Let's get to work. We'll tell him later."

* * *

 **Team RWBY's Dorm**

 **Blake's Dreamscape**

Blake Belladonna had seen many things in her life. She had seen mass discrimination against the Faunus, Humans sometimes beating or killing many of the so-called freaks. She had been involved with several robberies and infiltrations before leaving the White Fang. But nothing could ever prepare her for what she saw before her now, as she dreamed.

She was looking in awe and fear at a Grimm she had only ever read about, and no one had seen in half of a millennia. It's bone-like mask with its red tribal markings had a sword-like horn jutting from the front, it's black scales were almost darker than the average Grimm she had fought, and bone-like protrusions and leathery black wings on its back. The scariest part were the glowing green eyes that were filled with intelligence.

It was a Drakon.

" _How am I seeing this?"_ Blake thought. _"I've never seen this thing before!"_

It was then that she looked around and saw three figures standing behind her, seeming to prepare a large attack. One, dressed in red, threw a ball of fire that expanded and consumed the enormous Grimm while the other two, one in white, and one in dark blue, seemed to be preparing a combo attack as the one in white had a small sphere of light in his hand while the other in blue had a sphere of shadows in his. Holding their hands out, the two spheres began to fuse together to gain a gray and gold appearance. The two threw their attack forward, and it tore across the space to make contact with the Drakon.

Blake then noticed that with that attack, others had arrived, and although she couldn't make out most of them through the haze, she could see a familiar figure walking forward as the enraged Grimm recovered from the last attack.

" _Is that Saber?"_ she thought in shock.

She realized that he had taken his cloak along with his holsters and sheathes off, and was now walking toward the Grimm with a determined expression on his face as he glowed with the blue lightning flickering across his body.

When the light almost became unbearable, the glow disappeared, and so did Saber.

" _Where'd he go?"_ Blake wondered, looking around.

The beast suddenly roared in rage, and Blake saw the reason why. Saber was on its back using lightning enhanced punches to break through its armor. When the Drakon tried to hit him with its razor-sharp tail, he vanished again and reappeared in front of it, prompting the monster to breathe green and red flames at him.

Saber did something Blake didn't realize he could do at that point. He opened his mouth and bisected the flames with a torrent of lightning from his mouth.

Blake's eyes were wide as she continued to watch the spectacle of her Servant in life, killing a gigantic Grimm with a technique no one she knew could replicate.

" _This… is Saber?"_

Blake stared at the person who became her Servant, as he stood triumphantly on top of the Drakon's back, and the dream faded.

* * *

 **RWBY's Dorm**

Blake snapped awake after her dream faded. Looking across the room, she could see that Weiss was still fast asleep. Blake looked at the time distractedly, seeing that it was around three in the afternoon. Blake went to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, splashing water across her face as she looked at herself.

" _What does this all mean?"_

* * *

 **That's the chapter! I'm sorry if it seems a bit short, but I decided to get this out to have it out and work on the next part, since otherwise, I would just be going from place to place more randomly than I would like in one chapter. Now, as promised, here are Rider's stats.**

* * *

 **Author: Oathkeeper0317**

 **Servant Class: Rider**

 **True Name: Ryan Jenkins**

 **Alignment: Lawful Good**

 **Master: Weiss Schnee**

 **Stats-**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: C**

 **Agility: B+**

 **Mana: E+**

 **Luck: B**

 **Noble Phantasm: A**

 **Skills-**

 **Class Skills-**

 **Riding: A**

 **Magic Resistance: D**

 **Personal Skills-**

 **Eye of the Mind (True): B+**

 **Item Construction: B**

 **Noble Phantasms:**

 **Blizzard: A large mecha that Rider can call to assist him in battle, whether he is piloting it or not. Rank: A (Anti-Army)**


End file.
